Why Babar Azam is Removed from Test Squad Against England

Why Babar Azam is Removed from Test Squad, Pakistan Cricket Board has announced the squad for the last two tests against England, and unsurprisingly, the board decided to rest some of their high-profile players, including Babar Azam. 

Apart from Babar, wicketkeeper batter Sarfaraz Khan, and pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah were rested for the remaining two tests. 

All three Babar, Shaheen and Naseem had a poor outing against England in the first test as well as in the series against Bangladesh, which Pakistan lost 2-0.  

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Aaqib Javed, member of Pakistan men’s national selection committee, stated that the decision was taken after monitoring player’s current form, team’s eagerness to comeback in series, and demanding international schedule.  

“We’ve had to carefully consider current player form, the urgency to bounce back in the series and Pakistan’s demanding 2024-25 international schedule. With these factors in mind and in the best interest of Pakistan cricket as well as the players, we’ve made the decision to rest Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi,” stated Aaqib Javed in a press release. 

Babar Azam’s form in Test cricket

One of Pakistan’s biggest batters, Babar Azam has been struggling from a bad form and his poor run continued during the Pakistan’s recent test versus England, where Englishmen Joe Root scored a double and Harry Brook smashed a triple hundred, while Babar only managed to hit 35 in 2 innings.  

Azam has not hit a single half-century in his last 18 Test innings. Babar’s overall test average is 43.92 after 55 matches, but his average was 22.66 after nine innings in 2023, and only 18.50 after eight innings 2024. 

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Pakistan squad for second and third Tests vs England

Shan Masood (C), Saud Shakeel (VC), Saim Ayub, Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Haseebullah (WK), Salman Ali Agha, Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mehmood